With funding for a new chiller in hand, the city’s Ice Arena Authority is turning its attention to getting it installed in time to host fall activities.

Officials are targeting a late August opening for the 641 Norwich New London Turnpike facility, which gives them roughly an 8-week window for testing, set up and activation of a used chiller, which is now being stored under a nitrogen blanket in Alabama.

Authority member Michael Goldblatt said the device comes with a full one-year warranty and service contract, and could last up to 40 years with proper maintenance and upkeep.

“We want to stress reliability first, and everything else after that,” Goldblatt said. “It’s a reliable unit, and we’ll do whatever is prudent before we ship it up here.”

Aldermen voted 6-1 on Monday to redirect $80,000 in this year’s capital budget to cover the work as an alternative to letting the rink stay closed. But even those who decided to spend the money said a change in management may be needed to ensure the facility’s long-term solvency.

“Unless we change what we’re doing right now, we’re putting approximately $80,000 into this system without changing any of the concepts,” Alderman Tucker Braddock Jr. said. “I’m having a little trouble with that.”

Charlie Jaskiewicz, the only member of the council who voted against the loan, said he did not want to burden taxpayers with further subsidies for the rink, given its woeful financial history.

Since opening in 1995, it has never turned a profit, and, with Monday’s vote, is more than $400,000 in arrears to the city.

“The focus now is we have to make it a self-sustaining asset, that’s the bottom line,” Jaskiewicz said. “There needs to be a commitment that the operation changes.”

To that end, he called for issuing a request for proposals to attract private sector management firms interested in taking over the rink entirely, including control of its capital expenditures.

Councilman Mark Bettencourt said he considered adding language to the resolution that allocated the cash, requiring the authority to explore all management options.

But before organizational changes can occur, Bettencourt and other city leaders said the rink needs to reopen and start making money.

“We really can’t continue to subsidize the rink,” he said.

Paul Amor, a Colchester resident and president of Southeastern Connecticut Youth Hockey, one of the rink’s largest customers, said he hopes Monday’s favorable vote is a “turn-around point” for the facility.

“One is to get some sense of stability back into the facility so people aren’t in limbo, and then there needs to be a future strategy in place to ensure future success. They need to maximize their ice sales and work on providing a well-rounded service.”